Not a Sermon, Just a Thought
by K9Lasko
Summary: Ajay Khan has a post-Gitmo talk with Tony. 10.14 "Canary" tag.


Title: Not a Sermon, Just a Thought  
Summary: Ajay Khan has a post-Gitmo talk with Tony.  
Details: 10.14 "Canary" tag.  
Genre: Episode Tag, General  
Characters: Tony DiNozzo, Timothy McGee (mention), Leroy Jethro Gibbs (mention)

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**Not a Sermon, Just a Thought**

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Ajay Khan stared at the box of Annie's bunny-shaped cheddar crackers as it was unceremoniously tossed onto the table. It was followed by a sweating aluminum can of Blue Sky ginger ale and a whiff of cologne, familiar only because he'd been unwillingly locked in a cell with the man who'd been wearing it.

Between throwing up everything minus his stomach lining during the fake flight to Cuba and flinging a tray of prison-grade slop dramatically at a toilet, Ajay began to realize that he hadn't eaten anything substantial in well over twelve hours. His aching stomach rumbled as he swallowed the stringy saliva that had collected on his tongue. But - still cagey and stubborn - he turned his face away and studiously ignored the items. They had won the battle, not the war. Besides, Tony had _completely_ missed the point of organically _grown._

Ajay kept watch from the corner of his eye as Tony turned a chair around and slowly straddled it. Even after learning everything had indeed been a ruse, he couldn't seem to completely quell his body's trembling. Maybe it was the hunger or maybe it was the lack of adequate heating in this particular holding room. But it sure wasn't fear. No, he wasn't afraid, not anymore! And he definitely hadn't nearly lost control of his own bladder when he felt himself being dragged towards that cell door.

It had all been a sick prank, a complex and elaborate theatrical production meant to pry MC's IP address out of him. In hindsight, Ajay knew he should have just rolled over right away. The glory of being on a Most Wanted list had been mostly false, and it gave him little personal gain - only a glaring target on his back. He had underestimated the cleverness of that gray-haired dinosaur, so hell-bent on finding MC. And look at where he'd found himself. Ajay's whole life was falling apart like a pre-Pearl Jam grunge band.

These people were tenacious. And he _had_ been thoroughly convinced when that uniformed sergeant had been shot to death. He could only think of how his fate would be much worse, perhaps torn limb from limb and dragged throughout the complex. That had been enough to keep Ajay behind that cell door, shaking in terror, the square window serving as a screen through which he could view his impending doom. And he had thought it was coming, when that escaped detainee had leveled the rifle at Tony's chest.

Ajay kept his eyes on the tabletop, thoroughly humiliated and for once completely without a witty remark at the ready.

"You have a good time with your lawyer?" Tony finally asked, settling his arms on the top of the chair. "He sure didn't stick around for the party." Tony glanced around at the empty room.

Ajay stiffened in his chair. He didn't like how close the other man was; didn't like that cloying scene of cologne. He licked his lips and nudged the back of his hand across his throat in discomfort.

"Hey," Tony attempted to jog Ajay's mind out of la-la land. "You in there? I'll give you this: you're consistent." He snorted, amusing himself with his own clever reference. "Consistently stubborn."

When Ajay failed to react, Tony poked and prodded further. "C'mon! Wrath of Khan? Have you not seen _anything_?"

"I fired him," Ajay answered angrily in reference to his lawyer, eyes practically boring holes through the steel table. "He's charging me $2,000 an hour now. You know how long it takes to drive from DC to Nor-fucking-folk and then back to DC again?"

"Ouch. So, are you flying solo now?" Tony asked. "Because from where I'm sitting right now, that's probably not a good idea. For your own sake."

Slowly, Ajay turned his dark, suspicious eyes towards Tony. He snapped, "Why are you even here?"

"Just checking up on you. Boss's orders," Tony gave him a good-natured grin meant to calm and placate. "Need to make sure you haven't slipped through one of the cracks like the cockroach you are."

Ajay swallowed and set his jaw. He didn't want anything to do with anybody right now, especially not this asshole who could lie and act as easily as he could breath. Cursing his own stupidity and fear, Ajay scoffed, "Yeah? Well, I'm still here, genius. Now go away."

"Had you pretty good, though. Didn't we?"

Again, Ajay stiffened. If Tony dared to goad any further, he might be tempted to leap over the table. "What more do you want from me?" His words stumbled over his own tongue.

"Absolutely nothing. You gave us what we wanted. So, why don't you just relax your pretty little self and eat something?" Tony suggested as he suddenly leaned over to grab the box of snack mix. He ignored Ajay's less than subtle flinch and the way he leaned away. Tony opened the box and nudged it slowly across the table and directly under Ajay's nose. "Enjoy it while you can"

Ajay watched with narrowed eyes as Tony also popped open the soda can and set it right next to the snack mix. Still, he didn't touch any of it.

Tony went on, "Plus, you're our number two most wanted person. You're something of a celebrity around here. We'd hate to have you starve to death in this dark little room, devoid of human companionship. Doesn't seem all too humane."

"And you think dragging detainees through elaborate charades and tricking them into giving information is humane?" Ajay suddenly spat. Some of the fire was returning to his quick eyes. He glared as he assessed the current situation. Hatred, thick and pungent, now edged into the fear. It was a dangerously potent mixture, but Tony appeared unfazed.

"Ah well. Boss said 'whatever works…'" Tony grinned.

Ajay accused, voice cracking, "So you and the others do whatever that bastard tells you?"

"He's my boss. Pretty sure you can relate, Mr. It's-a-job," Tony leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice. "You see, I can't deny that you're an irritating prick-"

"Takes one to know one," Ajay blurted, childishly. He had been backed into a verbal corner. All he had left was base insults and instinctive reactions.

"Can't argue with that," Tony admitted, "But as I was saying, you're not only an irritating prick. You're a weasel-y little conniving thing. You're self-centered, difficult, and pretty damn smart - but there's something you're not."

"And what's that?" Ajay asked woodenly. Perhaps, deep beneath all of that hate and frustration, there was a splinter of curiosity. If his ego was about to be stroked back to life, Ajay would willingly nibble the kibble out of the hand that offered it. Even if that hand belonged to the same man who'd all but thrown him to the veritable wolves. Fake or not, that was still alarming.

"A mass murderer." Tony leaned forward even closer. "You're not really even a terrorist, are you. See, I think you're more of a hell raiser and a thrill seeker. You don't do what you do for any sort of ideological purpose. You do it just to see if you can. And the more challenging it is, the more you like it. Because you're brilliant like that. You were right, if it wasn't some whack-job with a pile of Ebola virus, then it's some other psycho. A slew of other psychos _you_ helped find a means to their end. Are you okay with that?"

"I'm not saying anything to you. I have nothing left to confess."

"No, you don't, because you're not the mastermind, and that's okay. You're smart enough to know that you don't need to be the mastermind to come out on top. You trust no one. You're in and then you're out, and no one even needs to know who _you_ are because they're all too busy chasing whoever hired you. Like I said, _smart._"

Ajay stayed quiet.

"But see, there's a problem, and here's where you made the biggest mistake. You _want_ people to know who you are. Narcissistic personality and all, which I can relate with, but I digress. I got your number, Ajay. The whole Ebola thing? You didn't care about that. Hacking into MTAC? You didn't know what was going to happen. You follow the money. You'll do anything as long as it pays. It's just a job, right? And you get your power trip. Your challenge. Your moment of fame."

Ajay studied Tony's eyes, green and murky. No, he didn't trust him. Not after the Gitmo stunt. But that didn't mean he wouldn't listen.

"The biggest challenge is keeping your tail out of all the fires you've lit. And you've got a blazing inferno on your hands. Leading the FBI to one employer was like piss on a brush fire. The fact is, you got somebody killed, and now you're sitting here eating your last box of organic cheddar bunnies and drinking your two dollar can of soda, and you realize that the party is over. It's all just a major bummer, isn't it?"

Ajay shook his head and rolled his eyes. He started to reach for the box of snack mix. "Why are you saying all of this?"

Tony leaned back and shrugged. "I suppose I just like to understand people. You and McGee - so much alike but so different. When did things start to change for you?"

Ajay ignored the question.

"I have your whole dossier. Pretty lengthy, by the way."

"McGee," Ajay changed the subject. "He was the one on the phone."

"Yeah. McGee. He really has you beat. He's smarter. Has more decency in one toenail than you have in your entire body. And, hey look, he's not going to prison anytime too soon."

"I've never heard of him before," Ajay huffed, hand clutching the box of cheddar bunnies.

Smiling with a wolf, Tony replied, "Well, now you have."

"You're an asshole," Ajay snapped.

Tony was still smiling. "I very well might be, but what your over-inflated head led you into could have very well earned you a date with the jolly old needle. But like I said, you're no terrorist or a killer. You're not exactly evil personified. So listen up!" Tony slapped the table hard with an open palm.

The sudden noise and change in demeanor shocked Ajay enough that he visibly jumped in his seat and knocked over the snack mix. A few orange-tinted bunny crackers fanned across the table.

"Game plan," Tony announced. "You're going to behave like a good boy once they lock you up. I wouldn't hope for anything less than life. But see, you're going to be smarter in here than you were out there, and you're going to inform on every employer you've ever had. We _like_ stuff like that, and you know what? You might find yourself a friend or two in law enforcement, and that sure goes a long way. Assuming, of course, they can get past that whole thing about your being responsible for the death of a UC, but hey! Stranger shit has happened."

Ajay was now gripping the edge of the table. "Why would I take advice from you?"

Tony pushed himself off of the chair and flipped it back around so that it slid neatly under the table. He then grabbed the ginger ale and took a long, sloppy swig before depositing it back in front of Ajay's frowning face. "Not a sermon," Tony clapped him on the shoulder. "Just a thought. As for me, I gotta go. Your fellow, less-evil Beaver awaits."

Ajay watched warily as Tony neared the door. He licked his lips before calling out, "I have one more question."

Tony turned. "Sure."

"Assuming that the whole prison break thing had been real, would you have- Would you guys have _really_ thrown me out into the hallway?"

Tony simply smiled and opened the door, one hand brushing against the badge attached to his belt. "Good night and good luck, Khan. It was a displeasure meeting you."


End file.
